Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield

Howard Herron 45
Illinois watch, somebody stole it and they cut a hole in my hammock and
got it but that wasn't their fault. The KP Lodge sent everyone of us,
everybody that went from Auburn, a watch. There was a lot to do back
home here too. You had to keep the home fires burning and there was
supplies, they were keeping the supplies for the army and the navy both.
In them days, cannons over in France and everything, cannons were drawn
by horses and mules and that's where Doc Woolover from Edinburg would
line up these horses and he was selling them over to France, that was a
business for him. I told you about that.
Q: Was your father still working in the coal mine while you were in the
service?
A: No, he was, yes, he was a fireman. He made steam to run the machinery.
Q: Did you get terribly homesick while you were away?
A: No, not too bad, oh, I never, the first night I laid in my bunk and I
cried pretty much. I was in the middle of the ocean and it was rough and
I said, ''What did I get into?"
Q: id you ever get seasick?
A: Oh, yes, not very often.
Q: It's terrible, isn't it?
A: You get used to it, but I remember I was very fortunate, I was
transferred to four different ships eventually. One station and four
different ships and every place that I went to Dr. Woods from Cincinnati,
Ohio, he was just a civilian doctor who volunteered for army work. He
was either on that ship when I got there or I was on the ship when he was
transferred there and we got to be good friends and I would go down in
what they called Sick Bay. He would say, "Open your mouths and you can
say aaah." He was a pretty good friend. I, my hair was starting to come
out, and he said just get some straight alcohol and he got it for me and
every day put that alcohol on it and I did and I still got a little hair.
Q: You think that helped?
A: Well, it must have. He told me to and I did it.
Q: Howard, I'd like to ask you about some events that happened in your
life. What year were you married?
A: I was married in 1919. I'll have to go back on that.
Q: Where did you meet your wife?
A: At her house.
Q: She lived here in Auburn.